The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
CNY family welcomes NYC kids
NYC children, CNY families learn from each other through Fresh Air Fund
CHITTENANGO, N.Y. >> Children fromNewYork City sometimes get more than a breath of fresh air when visiting Central New York — sometimes they experience something for the first time many take for granted.
“I had never been camping,” said Azucena Ortega, an 11-year-old of Queens. “I never had a s’more before. I had seen them before on TV, but I never had one.”
Azucena is just one of many children participating in The Fresh Air Fund this year. The Fresh Air Fund, a not-forprofit agency, has been providing free summer vacations to children since 1877. Azucena is joined by 14-year-old Taneeyah Simpson, a resident of New York City, and both are staying with the Kelley family in Chittenango.
Stephanie Kelley said she and her husband Adam have been hosting Azucena for the last five years and Taneeyah for the past two. It all started, Kelley said, when she and her husband considered doing foster care and felt the program was a good way to test the wa
ters.
Kelley said since then, the benefits have been both ways.
“For someone like Azucena, she’d be staying in her apartment all summer because her mom works very hard,” Kelley said. “So they get to stay here for three weeks and do all sorts of fun stuff, like going to water parks or the State Fair. For us, it’s beneficial because our children get to meet new people and we get exposed to new cultures.”
Kelley said Azucena was going to teach her and her family a recipe that had been passed down in Azucena’s family since her grandmother was a little girl living in Mexico.
“These kids are really good kids that appreciate this program,” Kelley said.
Taneeyah said she was nervous the first time she came to Central New York, being so far away from home. But after a bit of adjustment, she started to have a lot of fun and experience things for the first time.
“I had never been camping before but I had a lot of fun,” Taneeyah said. “I really enjoy being out in nature.”
There are some parks she can go to in New York City, Taneeyah said, like Central Park, but there’s always skyscrapers that can be seen in the distance.
The Kelley family goes to Green Lakes State Park a lot, Kelley said, so much so their children sometimes get tired of it — but not Taneeyah or Azucena. Kelley said both enjoy getting outside and walking the lake, taking in nature or interacting with animals.
At Sullivan Park in Chittenango, the Kelley family and friends got a chance to play in the water where Taneeyah and Azucena saw water striders for the first time.
When she gets back, Taneeyah said she’s going to have some stories to tell about what she did in Central New York.
“I’m going to tell my friends about the places I’ve gone and that they should give it a try,” Taneeyah said. “Some parents are a little nervous about sending with different families. But I think they (The Kelley Family) are really nice people.”
For Azucena, her first time coming up to Central NewYorkwas a bit difficult.
“I was feeling scared the first time because I’ve never left my mom. Or if I did, she wasn’t far away,” Azucena said. “I had started crying.”
But after getting over that initial fear and separation, Azucenamade quick friends with Kelley’s children and looks forward to spending time with them in the summer and doing things some Central New Yorkers take for granted — like going to the New York State Fair.
“I never even heard about it before,” Azucena said. “I couldn’t go the first year I came up because the day it started was the day I had to leave.”
But the second time around, Azucena got a chance to go to the New York State Fair for the first time and felt something very familiar.
“It was so crowded,” Azucena said. “It kinda felt like New York (City) or Times Square because you could get lost so easily if you don’t stick together.”
But t he bigge s t thing Azucena said she appreciates about her trip to Central New York is the serenity.
“It’s so quiet and peaceful,” Azucena said. “In New York City, you see lights and hear taxis everywhere. But here, it’s calmer and relaxed. When I come here, I feel relaxed.”
Kelley recommends any family interested in the Fresh Air Fund and hosting a child to do it, even if it’s just once.
To learn mor e , visit https://freshair.org/